Damascus

On behalf of Prensa Latina news agency, Miguel Fernandez was the only journalist from the Western world accredited to work in the Syrian capital of Damascus for nearly a year. After returning home to Havana, Fernandez gave Sputnik News an exclusive interview in which he reflects back on what he experienced in the war torn country.

Fernandez first gets into the single biggest lesson he learned, which is that the people of Syria don't give in, they don't stop pursuing the dream of having a prosperous country.

Syria has declared that a “regime of calm” will be enforced in parts of Latakia and Damascus  from 1:00am on Saturday A statement from the Syrian military said on Friday that the regime of calm, or the “silent period” will be enforced in parts of Latakia and Damascus regions from 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) on April 30. The head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation, Lieutenant General Sergey Kuralenko said “During this period, conducting warfare and use of all types of weaponry will be forbidden.

Islamic State (IS) gunmen have cut the supply route of the Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo, a day after their suicide bombers killed 150 people in Homs and Damascus. Xinhua English reports: The terror-designated group captured three points on the road to Aleppo overnight, said the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV. It added that the Syrian army is working on reopening the road, the only supply route for the Syrian government to the city. Other reports said a large convoy of reinforcements has been sent from eastern Aleppo to help recapture the road.

At least 140 people are feared dead following multiple explosions in the cities of Homs and Damascus in Syria on Sunday. Four blasts struck the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, the location of Syria’s holiest Shia Muslim shrine, killing at least 83 people, state media said. Earlier in Homs, 57 people, mostly civilians, were killed in a double car bombing, a monitoring group reported.

A Syrian army outpost south of Damascus was hit by an “Israeli bombardment,” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Deutsche Welle reports: “The location was targeted by three missile strikes, which caused physical damage,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a report. “It is unknown whether members of Hezbollah were inside the location or not,” SOHR added, referring to an armed Lebanese Shiite movement allied with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.